It was during the Harlem Renaissance period that this musical movement, which has now become essential: Jazz, was born and grew.
We could define jazz as an African-American music created in the early twentieth century by the black and Creole communities of the southern United States. There is a large part of improvisation, original sounds and a particular rhythm called: the swing.
The Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater is a music hall. It is located at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard which is the Seventh Avenue and Frederick Douglass Boulevard which is the Eighth Avenue. This theater is situated in Harlem in Manhattan in New York City.
It is a noted venue for African-American performers, and is the home of Showtime at the Apollo, a nationally syndicated television variety show which showcased new talent which began in 1987 and finished in 2008.
This theater became the Apollo in 1934, when it was opened to black patrons. Previously it had been a whites-only venue.
The Cotton Club
The Cotton Club was a New York City nightclub from 1923 to 1940. It was located on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue between 1923 and 1936 then briefly in the midtown Theater District between 1936 and 1940.
The club operated during the era of Prohibition in the United States and of racial segregation. Initially, blacks could not attend the Cotton Club. However, the venue featured many of the most popular black artists of the era.
Louis Armstrong
“If you have to ask what jazz is, you'll never know.”
Louis Armstrong was nicknamed "Satchmo" "Satch", and "Pops". He was an American trumpeter, composer, vocalist, and actor and he was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career during from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different eras in the history of jazz. In the 20's, he brought a huge impact during the Harlem Renaissance within the Jazz world.
Harlem then attracts the greatest musicians and the greatest singers. We can especially find among them the famous Louis Armstrong. The cotton club was, as we have seen, reserved for whites, even with black artists. In addition to performing at the Savoy Ballroom, Louis Armstrong has also performed at the Cotton Club.